Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 3, 1991 TAG: 9102010380
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Pulaski Town Council has funded the program since February 1988, when Doug Phelps started as project manager. Phelps and his assistant, Marci H. Church, work in an office provided by the town on - appropriately - Main Street.
The Main Street Program was developed as an approach to downtown revitalization by the National Main Street Center, an affiliate of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Virginia became the 15th state to join it in 1985.
To get the program's consulting services and other assistance, participating communities must agree to support it for three years. That support has totaled about $1.27 million.
Mayor Gary Hancock said funding would continue beyond next month when the three years are up, at least until Pulaski's 1990-91 fiscal year ends June 30. What happens after that depends on decisions made on the town's 1991-92 budget.
From February 1988 through last December, Phelps said, the downtown area has seen 28 business start-ups, expansions or relocations, a net increase of 40 full-time jobs, more than $1 million in private funds spent on downtown development and in-kind contributions amounting to about $60,000 from local businesses.
Based on minimum wage, the new jobs alone would amount to $291,200 in annual payrolls. The jobs pay more than minimum wage, however.
"I'm assuming that the majority of that money stays in our community," Phelps said. He estimated conservatively that it has a $1.8 million rollover effect.
"That doesn't represent a $10 million shopping center, but what it does represent . . . is a future there; it represents a reason to invest our money there," he said.
Pulaski Main Street Inc. also has been involved in 16 downtown promotions in three years, drawing an estimated 19,000 people. They came from as far away as Florida and Ohio for two summer model railroad shows designed to attract hobbyists.
Main Street also has held rallies boosting the Cougars, the Pulaski County High School football team, with giveaways of towels expressing Cougar support. The idea is to expose young people to downtown as it is today, he said.
"It is a pleasant setting and entertainment can be found here," Phelps said. "It's not just that old part of town that you never go to anymore."
Malls and shopping centers have an advantage in parking, but Phelps sees the bright side when people tell him it is sometimes hard to find a parking space downtown.
"A parking problem is a sign of vitality," he said, "so I was kind of glad to know that."
Downtown businesses have obtained more than 40 design consultations through the program, as well as last fall's visit by a small-business consultant who advised downtown merchants how to compete with the 72,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store under construction on Memorial Drive.
"The future of downtown is in smaller specialty shops," Phelps said. "None of them say `I have everything,' but what they have, they do a good job at. They can offer you an ability to know you coming through the door, who your children are, who they're married to . . . and there's an innate appeal to that."
Downtown is a good place for offices, too, he said, with lower rents than malls, making it a better location for start-up businesses.
Evaluators from the national program came to Pulaski earlier this month to look over the program. Their recommendations included seeking means of private support to continue the project beyond the town's three-year commitment.
"What they've said, and rightly so, is that if the private sector benefits from this program, they need to invest in it," Phelps said.
by CNB